


The Demon Butler

by DisConsulate



Category: Slender Man Mythos
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 21:13:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7405024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisConsulate/pseuds/DisConsulate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not easy starting a family in the countryside as a wealthy landed member of the gentry in Edwardian England, but Sir Lord Arthur Bramley Crumbleton is determined to make the best of it.  But is the butler as helpful as he at first seems?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Demon Butler

“Darling, have you seen where Amy went?”

 

Sir Lord Arthur Bramsley Crumbleton, Earl of Wight, glanced over the top of his newspaper at his wife, Lady Augustine Hempsworth Crumbleton, as she bustled into his study early one morning.

 

“Wasn't she playing down by the woods?” he inquired, bushy eyebrows arched gruffly to match his moustache.

 

“She was, but Talia has just returned from walking Benson and she says she hasn't seen the girl.”

 

“Oh very well,” Sir Lord Crumbleton said. Talia, the governess, was a very silly woman who believed in ghosts, and insisted that the butler was a demon sent from Hell to abduct the children. “I'll put Mr. Slenderman on it. He knows those woods like the back of his hand.”

 

Sir Lord Crumbleton rang the bell to summon the butler, Mr. Slenderman, who had been on the house staff when the Crumbletons had acquired Page House at a silent auction eight years ago. The previous owners had nothing but kind and portentous words to say about the butler, whom they insisted they had never hired, but who had always taken care of the grounds and the house and inspired such creativity in the children. They in fact seemed to the Crumbletons very keen to impress upon them just how grateful they were to the butler for everything he had done. Naturally, the Crumbletons had kept him on.

 

Sir Lord Crumbleton folded up the newspaper and reached for a snifter of brandy he always kept on hand for situations such as this. A bead of sweat dripped down from his temple, coming to rest just above his collar. He breathed in through his nose, anxious for no readily apparent reason, and took a gulp from the snifter. The butler stood in the corner, just beyond his sight, a tall, dark figure in a black suit and pale, almost white skin. It was difficult to recall just what his face looked like, even after years of valuable service. Sir Lord Crumbleton cleared his throat, suddenly dry and scratchy even after the brandy.

 

“Mr. Slenderman, Amy has gone missing while playing down by the woods. Would you see to it that she's found?”

 

The butler was silent. The tension in the room increased as he stood there, moving not an inch. Sir Lord Crumbleton cleared his throat again. It was stifling in the study, and he was having difficulty breathing. He glanced down at his desk, where he had been unconsciously writing in thick black scrawl on a blank piece of stationary.

 

_OF COURSE. OF COURSE. OF COURSE._

 

“Ah, thank you, Mr. Slenderman. That will be all,” Sir Lord Crumbleton said, and then the butler was gone. He heaved a sigh of relief, and stood up to pour himself more brandy. It was always disconcerting going into an interview with the butler, but one could not deny he knew his trade. Lady Crumbleton, who had been standing stock still in the middle of the room staring at the Persian rug, looked up with a start as if suddenly remembering herself. She bustled off to go and task the maids with preparing afternoon tea in the garden.

 


End file.
